Whether it’s a late summer BBQ, wedding, or other life milestone, you’re bound to have your calendar booked with a celebration sometime soon. For people working hard to lose weight, it can be stressful and even cause anxiety that can make you want to skip the event altogether. If this sounds like you, you should know that your uneasy feeling is natural and you shouldn’t think negatively toward it. Instead, how about a solution? I’ll explain why you’re having a difficult time and how you can be social without blowing your diet.
It’s All About Control
The reason social engagements may make you feel uncomfortable has to do with control; how much control you think you have over making “the right” choices so you won’t leave feeling stuffed and regretful of your actions.
Last week, Dr. Phil told his contestants that we need to eat to live not live to eat. Food is the body’s fuel. It is what keeps our hearts beating, our brains running, and our feet moving. Just like other sources of energy, some are higher quality and give us better results than others. Primarily, food is about nutrition and energy; however, we use food for many other purposes.
The majority of first dates include food. Men buy food on dates to demonstrate that they can provide, and it gives us something to do with our nervous hands, a reason to pause and consider what you will say while your mouth is full, and something to look at to avoid eye contact. The majority of our social contacts include food in some form. 
We share food to nurture one another; it is a way to say ‘I care about you, your comfort, and your health’. Also, as we mentioned, food is a powerful drug that can impact us physically and emotionally. The emotional aspects, seem to be Dr. Phil’s primary concern in how food may be misused. It’s when we start using food as a drug or a filler than it becomes a problem; that’s when our calories become empty.
According to Dr. Phil’s quiz Are You An Emotional Eater, I would venture that nearly all of us at least have “room for improvement”. Personally, I think there is a balance and you can still make smart choices without limiting yourself socially or completely ignoring your body’s cravings. Even chocolate has researched benefits on mood, but eating a tub of rocky road is not going to be helpful in the short term or the long term.
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